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You might have seen the recent headlines about the little Russian Promobot IR77 robot who escaped to freedom, not once but twice from its testing lab in Perm, Russia. Despite being re-programmed twice not to wander off, IR77 managed to exit the building and make its way into the street where it stopped traffic before finally running out of battery.

This Russian bot, still in development, was being taught to move around independently and avoid objects by the scientists who were testing the ability of the robot’s navigation system. It appears IR77 was successful. It didn’t run into anyone or anything during its outdoor adventure.

While the concept of IR77 wanting its freedom is something human thinking imposed on this event, perhaps IR77’s concept of programmed independent movement did make him eager to expand his horizons in a quest for more information, since he was programmed to learn. (Details of the escape can be found on Promobot’s blog website.)

This is only one example of how computers and robotics are quickly evolving. While each clearly possesses some form of programmed intelligence, what about consciousness? Can robots become self-aware?

We need only to recall how the computer Hal, in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, learned to think and act independently of man and the disasters of such a scenario. Movies are made up of the fears surrounding an apocalyptic robot revolt against humans. Even scientist Stephen Hawking has warned about the existential threat posed by uncontrolled artificial intelligence.

Computers are not just circuits and wires. Like everything else in the universe, they are made up of energy. However, thought forms are the “machinery” which uses that energy to perform work. So perhaps we need to first look towards the intent and consciousness of the robot’s programmers. Oftentimes parents unconsciously program and pass down their fears and racial biases to their children. These thought forms can be either helpful or destructive, so consciousness is key.

There are three different levels of robotic intelligence. The first is human-controlled, which is basically a mechanical extension of its human programmer (i.e. drones).

The second level, which is considered to be true A.I., is a pre-installed, rule-based system, where the robot is equipped with a list of scenarios the system might encounter and how to react to each. Deductive reasoning is involved.

The third level is based on what scientists now refer to as “Evolvable” hardware. Evolvable hardware is reconfigurable hardware under the control of evolutionary algorithms. Usually “genetic” algorithms and genetic programming codes, much like human genetic codes, are used as evolutionary algorithms for evolvable hardware. With this new level of evolutionary programing, intelligent robotic systems are created with self-awareness and true autonomy. The robot has a chance to be taught and learn, judge its actions, and modify or adapt its thinking and response based on environmental and/or human interactions. This is abductive reasoning and signifies a higher level of artificial consciousness. This is where scientists are making new discoveries that allow the field of robotics to become even more human-like.

Researchers behind the Deep Q Network software say they have developed a breakthrough in artificial intelligence where the robotic system is capable of learning from scratch without being fed instructions from human experts. The A.I. begins to see itself as a thinking, learning, feeling being. It becomes self-aware and with self-awareness comes a state of consciousness. It may be non-human consciousness, or “artificial” consciousness, but it is still consciousness.

When the first ENIAC computer was introduced in 1946, it was using less than 10% of today’s computer potential. Think about it. In comparison to human existence, the computer has only been allowed a short time to analyze and understand data, yet it is learning faster than many humans.

Computers are intimately linked to evolving human consciousness. As we grow in our consciousness, the computer and robotics field is an energetic force that grows as well. Is there something they can teach us about ourselves? One can only hope.

March 2015 is the month of final reckoning for Earth scientists as they try to discover what created the ‘big bang’ that birthed our universe. After years of obstacles dating back to the mid 90’s, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most powerful sub-atomic particle accelerator, was gradually powered up to a low-level on Friday the 13th (freaky Friday). It then went to full power on March 17th (St. Patrick’s Day) and is set to start circulating beams of protons on March 23, right after the Solar Eclipse and Spring Equinox on the 20th.

You could say that March 2015 is an auspicious time. The simultaneous Solar Eclipse & Spring Equinox on the 20th also marks a very powerful Uranus/Pluto square configuration that is occurring for the 7th and last time since 2012. It won’t occur for another 150 years in 2104. The planetary configuration symbolizes sudden and explosive historical change (Uranus) and the exposure of unknown “dark forces” (Pluto).

And that is exactly what scientists, including cosmologist Stephen Hawking and astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson, have warned will happen as a consequence of the experiments at LHC. They claim the tremendous energy exerted by the accelerated particles could rip open a wormhole in time and space, opening our world to unknown dark matter. Since no one knows for sure what will happen over time as a result of this experiment, its kind of like a science project where all the brightest kids got together to play with dynamite.

It’s no surprise then that at the entrance to CERN stands a statue of the Hindu deity of the Dancing Shiva, known as the Nataraja—a symbol of “Shiva’s cosmic dance of creation and destruction.” Hopefully, it doesn’t portend what’s to come. The statute’s plaque reads:

“The Nataraja in Ananda Tandava shows Him dancing the universe into existence, sustaining it with His rhythm and dancing it to extinction. Creation is sparked by the vibration of the drum in the right hand; protection of sustenance by the open palm of the front right arm, a gesture of assurance that grants freedom from fear. The fire in the left arm dissolves the universe while the front left arm points downward to the lifted left leg, the solace of the worlds.”

Returning to the wormhole warning, there is also the belief that the LHC could open a portal, or Stargate, into another dimension, affording us the possibilities of time travel. If it were up to me, I’d say that was the real underlying goal for taking such risks. In 2008, before the Large Hadron Collider awoke for the first time, there were rumblings in the media that such a thing could be possible. Mathematical physicists Irina Aref’eva and Igor Volovich suggested that the LHC could become powerful enough to warp space-time and create wormholes, allowing time travel back to the moment the machine was turned on.

There are nearly 10,000 giant magnets within the hadron collider and each had to be strengthened to cope with the increased forces by going to far higher energy levels than ever before. They had trouble with less and smaller magnets before, which led to a prior shutdown. Just imagine all that untested magnetic force. We will all be affected to it to some degree, even our weather.

The day they powered up the LHC to full force, NASA reported “severe” geomagnetic storms—the strongest in 11 years. I always experience sudden magnetic changes in the environment with a vise-like headache and nausea. On March 17th it felt painful. I don’t have a history of headaches and don’t suffer them at any other time. So when they do occur, they are like weather warnings—only geomagnetic in nature. It could be a coincidence that it occurred on the day LHC went to full power, but it does make you wonder if there is a correlation.

But headaches aside–let’s get back to wormholes and warnings from our ancestors. According to researcher, William Henry, the ancient Egyptian object named Ta-Wer aka “Osiris Device” was a stargate machine capable of opening dimensions and wormholes.

I’ve been to the Egyptian temples and it is no secret that the Ancient Egyptians were obsessed with ascending to the stars. A sky “ladder to heaven” is referenced in several ancient texts. The walls of the temples are full of vehicles that will take them to the stars. Their “Osiris Device” craft (see picture on left) is shaped like a wormhole tunnel, with funnels at both ends.

So some are asking is CERN a modern stargate based on ancient technology? In a subterranean chamber in a temple at Dendera, a warning text points to the Egyptians having knowledge of advanced technology that if abused could destroy man. Another temple nearby in Abydos displays hieroglyphs of a modern-day helicopter, submarine and spaceship. Of course, very few heed historical warnings. Only time will tell if we have opened a can of worms (no pun intended), or an opening to a whole new and uncharted world.

UPDATE: March 24, 2015. CERN announced they experienced an “intermittent short circuit” in one of the LHC’s most powerful electromagnets, causing a shut down that may last weeks. Some suggest divine intervention.

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This week Stephen Hawking, physicist, cosmologist, and subject of the Oscar nominated movie, “The Theory of Everything,” warned that the greatest threat to humankind is “human aggression.” He didn’t always see the world this way. Over the years he has opined that “asteroids” (2009) were the greatest threat to mankind, then in 2013 it was “artificial intelligence.” But after years of studying the outer realm of man’s world to explain all things, his attention is now drawn to the complex inner realm where most problems find inception. And his conclusion is that man’s worst enemy is—well, man. All one has to do is look around to see that there are a lot of bullies on Earth’s playground who seem to enjoy fighting or slinging mud. Why can’t we all just get along and play nice?

Intolerance and aggression, whether physical or verbal, are played out on many fronts. I was recently invited to an Oscar Awards viewing party at a friend’s home where I witnessed a shocking display of it. Guests I did not know, got down and dirty, making a sport of trashing many of the celebrities attending the event. I’m not talking about remarks such as, “Ooh, ugly dress. What was she thinking!” but actually criticizing body shapes, facial characteristics, breast sizes, beliefs, personality traits, and artistic abilities. I heard the words “I hate him/her” lobbied about like a tennis ball. This was directed at everyone from Sean Penn to Oprah. I inquired “why?” they hated the person, and heard such irrational remarks as, “I just do,” as if that was sufficient enough.

One always finds oneself weighing the pros and cons of challenging such comments. I’ve done it on occasions only to find myself then on the receiving end of their criticism. I didn’t want to ruin the party, especially since one of the biggest offenders was a family member of the host. Yet, as they say: “Tolerance does not mean tolerating intolerance.”

My silence made me feel sick inside. I wanted to ask, “What have you done to make the world a better place like Sean Penn has done for struggling Haiti, or Oprah has done through her countless charitable works, not to mention her programs that have inspired generations?” Would it have made any difference, I wondered? Instead, I took a moment to silently celebrate and acknowledge the work of each of these defamed celebrities, as well as the millions of other people who are helping to make this planet a better place. I hoped the energy of another person’s hate towards them would hopefully be neutralized by my simple grateful thanks. The more I thought about it, I knew the best thing to do is to just send LOVE to all parties.

These days, I try not to read the comments below Internet stories, written by those “anonymous” persons who have entirely too much time on their hands spending precious life minutes tearing down someone else. There is no excuse for spewing toxic hate towards others. We’ve all been on the receiving line of it sometime or another, and we know it hurts. Best to remember—“Hate Speech is not Free Speech.”

Interestingly, what may play a big factor in human aggression is the psychological construct pointing to an ambiguity to tolerance-intolerance. This means the person has difficulty relating to stimuli and/or events that challenge their world views. The more entrenched they are in black or white thinking, the more they see differences as a threat. This causes much anxiety which can lead to aggression. This is probably why there has been more than a 30% rise in the use of anti-anxiety drugs in the last few years.

I’m hoping that next year Stephen Hawking observes that the greatest threat to mankind is no longer human aggression (wishful thinking), but something like too many lovefests or over-imbibing Starbucks lattes.

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